OSTON -- Gov. Mitt Romney has asked his staff to draft a "very narrow" bill that would exempt Catholic Charities from the state's nondiscrimination laws so it can continue to provide adoption services without serving gay couples, the governor said yesterday.

In so doing, Romney argued that maintaining the services of Catholic Charities, whose parent Roman Catholic Church opposes gay adoption, was more important than maintaining a faith-blind law, which has allowed 13 same-sex couples to adopt children during the past 20 years.

He refused to elaborate when asked where he would draw the line if other faiths or their charitable organizations similarly come into conflict with state law in the future.

"They have within their religion the belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman, and that children should not be sent into homes without a mother and a father, and that's their religious freedom to have that belief and we'd like them to be able to be true to their religion and at the same time provide a service to the commonwealth of placing special needs kids," Romney told reporters after a breakfast speech to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.

He said that while his exemption would allow Catholic Charities to stop serving gay couples, it would not inhibit them from adopting, because "there are many, many other agencies that can meet the needs of those gay couples." He expected to file a "very narrow" bill perhaps this week.

In December, Romney refused to exempt Catholic hospitals from a new state law requiring them to provide emergency contraception, even though the church prohibits premarital sex and abortion. Romney had previously vetoed the law, only to be overridden by the Legislature.

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